中英對照讀新聞》Bite marks reveal gladiator’s fatal encounter with a lion in ancient Britain咬痕揭露了古英國角鬥士與獅子的生死之爭

角鬥士與野獸在競技場中的對決形象深植人心。（路透）

◎林家宇

In Rome’s Colosseum and other amphitheaters in cities scattered across the sprawling ancient Roman Empire, gladiatorial spectacles were not merely human-versus-human affairs. Gladiators also were pitted against animals.

在羅馬競技場及其它遍布於古羅馬帝國廣闊疆界各城市的競技場中，你死我活的壯闊場面不僅限於人類之間的爭鬥，角鬥士還得與野獸對抗。

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While there are depictions of these contests in ancient mosaics and texts, actual forensic evidence has been elusive, until now. Scientists have determined that bite marks on the pelvis of a man buried in what is believed to be a cemetery for gladiators near the English city of York, known at the time as Eboracum, were made by a big cat, probably a lion.

儘管古代馬賽克和文字記載中存有這些競爭的描繪，卻難有確切的法醫學證明。據信舊時被稱作伊波拉肯的英格蘭城市約克周邊，有一座角鬥士墓地。科學家如今判斷，埋葬在此的一名男子骨盆上的咬痕，可能是獅子這類巨型貓科動物造成。

The man, estimated to be 26 to 35 years old at the time of death, appears to have lived during the 3rd century AD, when Eboracum was an important town and military base in the north of the Roman province of Britannia. The bite marks provide clues as to his suspected demise in the arena.

該名男子估算的死亡年齡約26至35歲，生活在西元三世紀期間。當時的伊波拉肯既是一座重要城鎮，也是羅馬行省不列顛尼亞的北方軍事基地。咬痕為他在競技場的死亡原因提供了線索。

新聞辭典

spectacle：名詞，壯觀場面、奇景。例句：He was deeply stunned by the spectacle of the Alps.（他被阿爾卑斯山的壯麗景緻給深深震撼）

elusive：形容詞，困難的。例句：How to combine General Relativity and Quantum mechanics remains elusive for physicists.（對物理學家來說，如何結合廣義相對論和量子力學仍是難題）

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